Accurate Vertical Pile Installation by Using a Hydraulic Vibratory Hammer on the Arbroath Project

Abstract

In the SUImller of 1989 the Arbroath platform was installed on behalf of Amoco in the UK Sector of the North Sea. A part of the project involved the installation of two docking piles, for locating the platform accurately over the template, and four under-leg piles for giving initial stability to the platform, before the skirt piles had been driven.The paper describes the use of a vibratory hammer, the ICE-14l2, during the installation of the docking and under-leg piles. It describes how the penetration by vibrator was predicted, and how during the initial stage of penetration, control was kept over the verticality of the pile. For the first time the pile inclination was measured continuously during penetration, providing the opportunity to correct the verticality as required. The paper highlights the principles and results of these measurements.The paper concludes that the combination of vibratory hammer and conventional hydraUlic underwater hammer can be very effective for underwater pile installation. The pile verticality can be effectively controlled by continuous measuring of the pile inclination during vibration.

Estimating Bearing Capacity of Piles Installed with Vibratory Drivers

“…Another example of successful use of vibratory driving was installation of piles for Amoco Arbroath platform in the UK sector of the North Sea (Ligtering 1990). Piles with a diameter of 1,067 mm were installed to a depth about 25 m using an ICE-1412 vibratory driver.…”